North East India is often associated with words such as unconnected and geographically isolated. But the spread of e-governance in the state of Meghalaya vouches to connect this part of the world to the mainstream through the extensive usage of ICT. With the three main arms of e-governanceCSCs, SWAN and SDCsmaking inroads here, the state is all set to embark on a path of development explains AK Srivastava, principal secretary, IT, Government of Meghalaya. Excerpts

Out of the total 225 Common Services Centers (CSCs) earmarked for Meghalaya, how many are operational as of now? Is topography a main hindrance over setting up these CSCs?
So far, sixty-six CSCs have been rolled out. Topography is not a predominant issue. It poses some challenges as far as the connectivity is concerned. However, there are many challenges with respect to operationalizing the CSCs, such as connectivity and power supply, generating awareness among the people and dissemination of information, lack of entrepreneur skills / basic IT skills, non-availability of suitable premises, not many G2C applications in place. So far, understanding rural needs and finding innovative solutions to meet them, and delay in rolling out of CSCs due to tedious process in approaching local authorities (village headmen, etc).

The RFP for State Data Center (SDC) was issued recently by your department. When do you foresee the project to take off?
At present the state is awaiting approval of DIT, Government of India for issuing corrigendum/addendum to the RFP that was issued earlier. The corrigendum/addendum is based on the pre-bid meeting held on April 28, 2009. As soon as the corrigendum/addendum is approved by the DIT, it will be issued calling upon parties to submit their bids. Considering the past experience, it may take two to three months to finalize the bids. We are hopeful that the project should take off within this year.

What is the status of State Wide Area Network (SWAN) in the state?
There has been a bit of setback to this important program. The successful bidder backed out even before starting the work. The matter has presently been taken up with the Government of India to allow us to re-invite bids from interested parties for implementation of SWAN on built-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) model with slightly modified terms and conditions. Once the approval of DIT, Government of India is obtained, RFP will be issued again.

English speaking population is a major advantage for Meghalaya, especially in the BPO and ITeS. What are the plans to utilize this?
Yes, we have a pool of English speaking people in the state and we definitely want to take advantage of the same. The state government, in collaboration with DOEACC Society, Guwahati, has been conducting ITeS courses for youths since 2005-06 and about 70% of pass-outs have been provided placement in BPOs and IT related industry. Currently, an ITeS course is being conducted exclusively for women candidates only under Women Empowerment Program. Under this program, hundred women candidates are to be trained during the current year. Besides, the state government has entered into an agreement with Symantec International, which includes training programs to enhance the employability potential of the youths in the state. So far, 500 youths have been provided training by Symantec, and another 1,500 youths are proposed to be covered under the program. The training programs have been held in Shillong (state capital) and Tura, the headquarters of West Garo Hills district. The training programs will also be organized at Jowai, the headquarters of Jaintia Hills district. The participants in the programs have come from both urban and rural areas. We want to train up as many people as possible.

What are the major e-governance projects being undertaken/completed in the state?
As far as e-governance program is concerned, we are focusing on the key infrastructureSDC, SWAN, CSCsand the state service delivery gateway. Besides these, we are also in the process of developing applications which will strictly be citizen centric and are being taken under the mission mode project. So far some of the services are already under implementation. VAT is under implementation. The Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for various departments of the state are either completed or are under completion. This includes agriculture, road transport, health, urban affairs, and education. These DPRs will be sent to the line ministries in the Government of India so that we can take them under the MMPs. Apart from this, we are also planning to develop one common software that will cut across all the departments. This is the public grievances system which will be web-enabled, whereby people can submit their grievances to the government. The system is under the planning stage and the software is under development. NIC is given the responsibility to develop the software. This is one of the major projects that will cut across all the state departments.

Apart from the STPI in Shillong, are there any other areas being marked for STPIs in the state?
For setting up the first IT Park in the state, the government had tied up with the STPI Guwahati. An MoU was signed with STPI on September 23, 2006, and an area of about 1.5 acres was handed over to the organization. The STPI park is located at Lumjingshai, Mawlai Mawroh in Shillong and made functional in October 2007, marking the beginning of the first step towards making Meghalaya as the future IT destination of the eastern region. The STPI Shillong with the building area of 549.62 sq meters has at present three companies located in itChillibreeze, designing and content management; ETPL India, software consultants; and Anjaybee Infotech, outbound call center.

The Government of India has in principle agreed to upgrade the STPI Shillong due to high demand. Therefore, there is a plan to construct a new building at the same location with an area of approximately 464.73 sq metres.

The state government also proposes to set up an IT Estate at New Shillong in the public private partnership (PPP) mode. A plot of land has already been identified for this purpose by the Urban Affairs department. The plan is still at a nascent stage.

What is the future roadmap for e-governance in Meghalaya?
In short, I would say that we have to take action on three important areas. One is the focus on the key infrastructure in terms of SWAN, SDC and CSCs. Secondly, we want to focus on useful applications for the benefit of the citizens. And third area is capacity building. This is of utmost importance. We need to work on capacity building within the organization, and develop IT skills of the officials. Action will be taken simultaneously on all the three fronts for achieving the objective of the national e-governance plan (NeGP) in as little time as possible.

Nilakshi Barooah
nilakshib@cybermedia.co.in